WALLA WALLA, Wash.—Gretchen Brauer-Rieke, CNM, of Walla Walla, will discuss the politics of childbirth in America when she lectures at Whitman on Thursday, Dec. 9.

Brauer-Rieke will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Auditorium, Hunter Conservatory, corner of Park and Boyer, Whitman College campus. Her presentation, “Childbirth in America: The Politics of Power, Money, and Fear,” will look at the evolution of medically/surgically managed childbirth in America and why fewer women are having natural childbirth each year.

“Despite the fact that the U.S. spends far more on maternity health care than any other country,” said Brauer-Rieke, “we continue to rank an abysmal 28th among developed nations in infant mortality. More technology, more surgery, more money, but no improved outcomes: What’s wrong with this picture?” Her lecture, sponsored by the Associated Students of Whitman College, is free and open to the public.